India mulls over sending mission to Mars in 2013

The project, which is estimated to cost around Rs 450 crore, will involve huge manpower of around 185 scientists, engineers and technicians."
A senior Indian official

India is planning to send an orbiter to Mars in 2013 in an ambitious move to explore the Red Planet.
The Indian government is set to consider a proposal for the country to send its unmanned Mars orbiter spacecraft to the planet during October-November next year, The Hindustan Times reported on Thursday.
The development comes four years after the South Asian country launched its moon probe, Chandrayaan-1.
Reportedly, India’s Space Commission gave a go-ahead for the project last December, and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is also said to favor the plan.
According to a senior Indian official, "The mission will be launched from Satish Dhawan Space Center Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh in November 2013.”
Since the probe is not scheduled to land on Mars, it will roam in the elliptical orbit of the red planet.
"The project which is estimated to cost around Rs 450 crore will involve huge manpower of around 185 scientists, engineers and technicians," the official added.
The 1,350 kilogram spacecraft is expected to gather satellite images and send them back to earth to assist Indian scientists in studying the possibility of life there.
So far the US, Russia (and the former Soviet Union), the European Space Agency, Japan and China have sent missions to Mars. However, such space missions have large failure rate.
MR/GHN